Results from the Southern Ute Indian Community Safety Survey, Final Report

• NCJ Number: 212237
• Author(s): Julie C. Abril M.S.
• Date Published: December 2005
• Length: 114 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2001-3277-CA-BJ
• Agencies: BJS-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Survey; Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This study of the prevalence and characteristics of crime on the Southern Ute Indian reservation in Colorado was conducted in order to provide the Tribal Council with recommendations regarding culturally appropriate crime control policy.

Abstract

The Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council, the governmental body of the Tribe, authorized the study in January 2001. In the first phase of the study, a questionnaire was distributed to all persons over age 18 enrolled as members of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. The survey focused on respondents' views of crime in general, the community, forms of victimization and drug/alcohol use, respondent's neighborhood, assessment of tribal services, crimes against Indian cultural values, pan-Indian identity, and respondent characteristics. This phase also surveyed a sample of 1,100 non-Indian residents in the county surrounding the largest concentration of tribal members living within outer perimeters of the reservation's boundaries. The second phase involved structured personal interviews with 71 self-selected tribal members. Fourteen persons employed by the Southern Ute Indian criminal justice system were interviewed in the study's third phase. The fourth and final phase of the study was a content analysis of the Tribal Code, which was conducted to determine whether laws are adequate to address some of the crime problems identified in the study. Findings indicate that the Indian respondents experienced criminal victimization at higher rates, more often, and with more serious injuries than the non-Indian respondents. Most respondents liked their communities and wanted police to respond to neighborhood problems. Tribal members were generally dissatisfied with the reservation police and the Tribal Council, and they strongly favored adherence to Indian cultural values. Extensive tables and figures and appended questionnaire